As I prepare to keynote America’s Customer Festival I’m continually reminded that big data is taking a back seat to smart data. Every company has data. In fact every company has more data than they know what to do with. But it’s not the size or volume of the data that matters, it’s what you can do with it: applying analytics, creating powerful insights – in short, making the data smart.

Smart data, rather than big data, is where I’m focusing my attention. Companies need to look at the data they have and move toward finding the data that will help them make decisions. I’m focused on ways that transaction data can add to the process and improve decision-making at global companies. When a company moves from big data to smart data it opens many doors and creates many opportunities.

There are almost too many to list. But if I had to pick five key benefits that result from transaction-based smart data, they would be the following:

Advanced segmentation: Segment customers by their purchase behavior – what they actually buy – vs. static demographic data. Demographic data is a foundation for marketing but it must be enhanced to be effective.

Transaction data is the starting point for smart data. I think America’s Customer Festival will prove this point on many levels. In fact, I’m teaming with Excentus CEO Brandon Logsdon to open the show with an emphasis on the move to smart data and its ramifications for customer loyalty.

To see this in action, check out this videoabout our work with Excentus. It is, after all, about the customer and how they spend.